COLUMBIA, MD--The Howard County Striders had not lost the
10-Mile Challenge race, a Road Runners Club of America MD State
Championship, in five years, but they knew they were in trouble
when eight of their top runners didn't show up on Sunday, February
25, for the 2001 edition of the race. The Montgomery County Road
Runners Club took full advantage of the situation and overwhelmed
not only the defending champions, but the four other clubs who
posted racing teams. "This year we put the Challenge on
our racing schedule, not our training schedule," said Montgomery
team coordinator Bill Riggs. Montgomery County dominated both
the men's and the women's teams, and easily won the overall team
championship. Buoyed by a strong showing on the women's team,
the Howard Countians did manage to pull out second place overall.

Rob Magin led the Montgomerians (55:15), as they placed four
runners in the top 10 to Howard County's three. Masters runner
Dave Berardi (age 40) and Oakland Mills High School runner Izudin
"Izzie" Mehmedovic (age 16) paced the Howard Countians
with times under 58 minutes. Dave had done a hard track workout
the day before the race and "really didn't plan to run faster
than 65 [minutes]," while the 10 miler was Mehmedovic's
first race of that distance.

Calling the hilly 10-mile course "the toughest race I've
ever run," Montgomery County's Patty Fulton won the women's
race in 1:03:51. Howard County's first woman, Vicki Lang, finished
the race over a minute faster than last year and claimed fifth
place among the women in 1:06:32.

Hosted by the Howard County Striders, the race served as a
Maryland State Championship team event for the Road Runners Club
of America. RRCA President Freddi Carlip and outgoing RRCA MD
State Rep Jim Adams were on hand to give out the team awards.
(They also helped James Moreland distribute awards for the Maryland
RRCA Grand Prix during a preceding ceremony.) The men's, women's,
and combined teams won polished pewter plates, and for its overall
championship, the Montgomery County Road Runners Club also received
the travelling trophy--"the second ugliest trophy in the
world"--and will return it next year to the new champions.
The first place runner, Craig Morrell, ran unattached and won
a pewter plate, as did Ms. Fulton for winning the women's race.
All runners received complimentary runner's gloves as well as
bagels, fruit, and water refreshments after the "no-frills"
race. A total of 305 runners finished the race, and six teams
fielded full racing teams consisting of the top 12 men and three
women.

Ken Dent debuted as director of the race, which takes place
every February at Howard Community College. The college generously
allowed runners to use its gymnasium and locker rooms before
and after the race. Howard County police provided traffic control
throughout the 10-mile course, which runs mostly through the
several hills of Clary's Forest. Dozens of Howard County Striders
marshaled the course early on Sunday morning, providing water
and directions to the runners.

Morning rains held off until many of the runners returned
to the shelter of the college's gymnasium, but many runners (and
most of the poor course volunteers!) got caught in the drizzle.
"People who ran fast and got in before the rain started
didn't have nearly as much fun!" quipped race announcer
Miles Wiegold.

Notes and Quotes From George Banker

Winner Patty Fulton on the tough course:

"It was hard and each hill that I ran down I didn't realize
that I had to run back up. My first mile was 6:06 and the only
easy one. I was competitive in a team way, but was not on an
individual level. My goal was to run sub-65 minutes. I never
ran this course before," said Fulton.

"This race was tough and I need to get into shape. The
loops are good in that you can see your competition and other
team members. This was the hardest 10 miler that I've done. At
mile five I was getting discouraged because I didn't feel good.
With three miles to go I started to think positive. Once I got
towards the end, the time was not so bad. You need to visualize
yourself running," added Fulton.

Comments from runner-up
Desiree Ficker:

"At three miles I wasn't feeling good. I looked at my
watch and saw 18 minutes and Patty [Fulton] was pulling away.
When I saw mile six it didn't seem so bad. I like the hills and
I wasn't terrorized by the course. The time was fine as long
as another woman did not pass me," said Ficker.

"MCRRC has been a wonderful club to me and I wanted to
come out and support them. It reminds me of running in school
where you build up a team of runners. It gave us a chance to
see other team members," added Ficker.

From Dave Berardi, first Masters:

"I was okay for the first six to seven miles and the
last two miles I was fatigued. I wanted to race a solid effort.
I should not have done the workout yesterday. I was tired out
there," said Berardi.

HOST CLUB HCS HEAD
HONCHO, MICK SLONAKER, PROUDLY
PRESENTS LUNCH FOR THE MD PRESIDENTS' MEETING HELD
AFTER THE CLUB CHALLENGE.
FREDDI CARLIP PHOTO